The Son of a Dying Man
by as-good-a-night-as-any
Summary: Sequel to the Son of Iron Man


**This is a sequel to the Son of Iron Man. This is focused specifically on Iron Man 2. I've been working on this for WAY TOO LONG. But here it is. The Son of a Dying Man.**

**I almost didn't write Blaine into this scene because I didn't think he fit. But then I thought "Well, why the hell not?" and did it anyway.**

The sound of a gavel.

"Mr. Stark, can we pick up now where we left off?"

Blaine was smirking at his dad, though he probably shouldn't have been. They were in a courtroom. A big one. In front of the Senate Armed Service Committee. In Washington DC. And there were cameras filming every moment. Tony was sitting, facing backwards, talking silently to Pepper, who was seated next to Blaine. She was telling Tony to turn around.

"Mr. Stark. Please."

Tony turned and looked at Senator Stern, who had been banging the gavel to get Tony's attention.

"Yes, dear?" Tony said to him, eliciting a laugh from everyone else in the courtroom, including Blaine, which earned him Pepper's elbow in his side.

"Can I have your attention?" the senator asked him.

"Absolutely," Tony responded.

"Do you or do you not possess a specialized weapon?"

"I do not."

"You do not."

"I do not. Well, it depends on how you define the word weapon."

"The Iron Man weapon."

"My device does not fit that description."

"Well, how would you describe it?"

"I would describe it by defining it for what it is, Senator."

"As?"

"Ah, it's a, hm, it's a high tech prosthesis." The crowd laughed again. "That's actually the most apt description I could make of it."

"It's a weapon," said the senator." It's a weapon, Mr. Stark."

Tony spoke before he could go any further. "Please, if your priority is actually the well being of..."

But the senator cut Tony off. "Our priority is to get the Iron Man weapon turned over to the people of the United States of America."

"Well, then forget it," Tony told him simply. "I am Iron Man. The suit and I are one. To turn over the Iron Man suit would be to turn over myself, which would be tantamount to indentured servitude or prostitution, depending of what state you're in. Can't have it"

Once again, the crowd laughed at what Tony said. But even though what he was saying was funny, Blaine knew that what he was saying was actually true. Take out the part about indentured servitude and prostitution, and you would get the plain truth.

"I'm no expert -" the senator started to say, but Tony quickly interjected.

"In prostitution? Of course not, you're a senator. Come on!" He smirked a bit and turned to look back at Blaine and Pepper, throwing up a piece sign to the crowd. Blaine was trying very hard not to laugh, but Pepper just looked at him disapprovingly. Tony shook his head a bit and mouthed "No?"

"I'm no expert in weapons," the senator started again. "We have somebody here who is an expert on weapons. I would like to call Justin Hammer, our current primary weapons contractor."

Tony sat up at the mention of Hammer, a bit surprised. Blaine rolled his eyes. Yes, Hammer was a good weapons manufacturer. Yes, Hammer was a good business man. But Hammer could never measure up to what Blaine's dad could do.

"Let the record reflect that I observe Mr. Hammer entering the chamber and I am wondering if and when any actual expert will be in attendance," Tony said to the senator. Blaine smirked.

Hammer shook his head and laughed as he pulled the microphone over to himself. "Absolutely," he said. "I'm no expert. I defer to you, Anthony. You're the Wonder Boy. Um, Senator, if I may." Hammer stood. "I may well not be an expert. But do you know who was _the_ expert? Your dad. Howard Stark. Really a father to us all. And to the military industrial age."

Howard Stark. Blaine wished that people would stop comparing his dad to his grandfather. Blaine may have never met Howard Stark himself, but it was completely obvious that Howard and Tony are two completely different people. He especially wished Justin Hammer would never, ever, ever bring up Howard ever again, because clearly, at this moment, Tony was thoroughly detesting it. He also wished Hammer would stop calling his dad "Anthony". It just sounded really weird. He had never heard anybody call him that.

"Let's just be clear, he was no flower child," Hammer continued. "He was a lion. We all know why we're here. In the last six months, Anthony Stark has created a sword with untold possibilities. And yet he insists it's a shield."

_That's because that's what it is,_ Blaine thought to himself. _What don't you people get?_

"He asks us to trust him as we cower behind it. I wish I were comforted, Anthony, I really do. I'd love to leave my door unlocked when I leave the house. But this ain't Canada. You know, we live is a world of grave threats, threats that Mr. Stark will not always be able to foresee. Thank you. God bless Iron Man and God bless America." Hammer finally stopped talking and sat down as the crowd clapped politely.

"That is well said, Mr. Hammer," said the senator. "The committee would now like to invite Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes to the chamber."

Blaine raised his eyebrows in surprise as he looked and saw Rhodey walk into the chamber. Tony stood up as Rhodey approached the table. "Hey, buddy," Tony said to him, grabbing his hand to shake it. "Didn't expect to see you here."

"Look, it's me, I'm here, let's move on," Rhodey said to him. Tony stammered a bit, trying to search for something to say,, but Rhodey cut him off. "Drop it."

"All right, I'll drop it," Tony said as they both walked to the table.

"I have before me a complete report on the Iron Man weapon compiled here by Colonel Rhodes," Senator Stern said, "and Colonel, for the record, could you please read page 57, paragraph 4?"

"You're requesting that I read specific selections from my report, Senator?" Rhodey asked.

"Yes, sir," Stern told him.

"It was my understanding that I was going to be testifying in a much more comprehensive and detailed manner..."

"I understand. A lot of things have changed today."

"You do understand that reading a single paragraph out of context does not reflect the..."

"Yes, Colonel, I do. Thank you."

Rhodey nodded and began to read the requested paragraph. "Very well. 'As he does not operate within any definable branch of government...'" Rhodey paused, seeming to not want to continue reading the passage, "'Iron Man presents a potential threat to both the nation and to her interests.'" He looked at Tony, who was sitting silently in his chair for the first time since they had arrived in DC. Blaine closed his eyes and shook his head. Of course Stern picked _that_ part of Rhodey's report.

"I did go on to summarize that the benefits or Iron Man far outweigh the liabilities and that it would benefit to fold Mr. Stark into the chain of command, Senator," Rhodey said, trying to help Tony's case. The senator was bent on stopping Rhodey from talking.

Finally, Tony leaned to his mic. "I'm not a joiner, but I'll consider Secretary of Defense if you ask nice." Once again, the crowd laughed. "And if you can bend the hours a little bit."

The senator cleared his throat a bit nervously and went on. "I'd like to show, if I may, some of the imagery that's connected to your report," Stern said to Rhodey.

"I believe that it is premature to reveal these images to the public at this time," Rhodey said while giving a look that said 'Are you serious right now?' to the senator.

"With all due respect, Colonel," Stern said; Blaine rolled his eyes at the insincere and overused phrase. "I understand, and if you could just narrate those for us, we'd be very grateful."

Rhodey shook his head a bit, irritated, but waved his hand at the monitor. "Intelligence suggests that the devices shown in these photos are, in fact, attempts at making manned copies of Mr. Stark's suits." Blaine glanced at his dad to gauge his reaction and saw him looking down at something in his hands, but what that something was he couldn't tell; it was being blocked from view by Tony's chair. "This has been corroborated by our allies and local intelligence in the ground indicate that these suits are quite possibly, at this moment, operational," Rhodey continued.

Blaine was too busy trying to figure out was his dad was holding to pay attention to what Rhodey was saying. Tony moved his hands up and Blaine could now see that it was a small, almost transparent pad. Blaine smirked a bit as he recognized the device.

"Hold on a second, buddy," Tony said, interrupting Rhodey and leaning forward to hold the device closer to the monitor. he tapped it twice and a dialog box appeared on screen with various lines of code that, to an ordinary citizen, looked like gibberish, except for one sentence at the bottom that read: WELCOME MR. STARK. "Oh boy, I am good."

The crowd started talking among themselves as obviously no one in the room had expected Tony to start hacking the system. "I commandeered your screens," Tony stated, doing the same to a screen on the opposite side of the room. "I need them. Time for a little transparency. Now, let's see what's really going on."

Stern leaned forward in his seat. "What is he doing?" he asked.

Tony was still tapping away on the device. "If you'll direct your attention to said screens, I believe that's North Korea." He was bringing up footage of what seemed to be a some sort of a possible replica of the suit. It was bigger, bulkier, and didn't resemble a man. There were what seemed to be rockets and guns on each shoulder and arm. The suit started to walk forward, but it tipped over after a few steps. The impact of it hitting the ground caused the guns to go off and start shooting randomly. The people around it screamed and tried to run away; some were obviously not successful in doing so because in the next second, blood splattered the camera lens. The crowd make noises of surprise and disgust. Blaine's eyes widened in shock. Stern stood and pointed at the screen, telling someone to turn it off. Hammer stood, attempting to do so.

"Iran," Tony said, bringing up more footage. As Hammer tried to figure out a way to turn the screens off, a man attempting to fly in a suit crashes to the ground and hits the camera.

"No grave immediate threat here. Is that Justin Hammer?" Tony asked in mock surprise as Hammer himself appeared on the screens. Hammer tried even harder to turn off the screen as footage showed him testing a manned suit. Blaine saw his dad give Rhodey a look as Rhodey turned his head and attempted not to laugh.

"Turn to the right," Hammer said on the screen. As the suit turns, the top half turns completely around so it's backwards and you can hear a cry of agony from inside the suit.

Finally, Hammer succeeded in turning off both screens. Almost the whole crowd was on their feet looking at the screens. "Yeah, I'd say most countries, five, ten years away. Hammer Industries, twenty," Tony said. Blaine laughed, earning himself another elbow from Pepper.

Hammer quickly said into the mic, "I'd like to point out that that test pilot survived." Blaine rolled his eyes at Hammer.

"I think that we're done is the point that he's making," Stern said, standing along with most of the crowd. "I don't think there's any reason to continue..."

"Point is that you're welcome, I guess," Tony said, interrupting Stern.

"For what?"

"Because I'm your nuclear deterrent. It's working. We're safe. America is secure. You want my property? You can't have it! But I did you a big favor!" Tony stood and faced the crowd, turning his back on Stern. "I have successfully privatized world peace." At this, the crowd stood up once again and applauded.

"What more do you want?" Tony shouted over the sound. "I tried to play ball with these ass-clowns!"

Tony turned back and pointed in Stern's direction to which Stern responded with "Fuck you, Mr. Stark. Fuck you, buddy. We're adjourned. We're adjourned for the day."

Tony put on his sunglasses, threw a thumbs-up at the committee, then blew a kiss before turning to leave. Blaine shook his head in amusement as he and Pepper got up. He shook hands with people on the way out and spoke to a camera. "My bond is with the people," he said. "And I will serve this great nation at the pleasure of myself. One thing I've proven is that you can count on me to pleasure myself."

And with that, Tony exited the courtroom.


End file.
